Hi there...and welcome to Washington. It's a very beautiful state. My husband and I retired in 2003 and after much research chose WA as our retirement location and "homebase"--primarily due to taxes (we keep more of our retirement here), weather and much more. We left CA after selling our home and property and made our way north....way north!! We decided to come up to Ferndale, WA after researching weather conditions, flooding...you name it...of all other areas of Washington! There is a lot of flooding...more rain as you leave Whatcom County and go south!  If we had gone much further north we would have been in Canada. As it turned out the weather here is perfect for us. We bought property with lots of trees and privacy in the County of Whatcom...near Ferndale and Bellingham...and we love it! Seattle has a lot more rain than us up here in the northwest corner of WA. Our weather here is more like Vancover,Canada. We love all the trails, we are close to Mt. Baker as well as the coast...when we want to enjoy the water, trails, and parks. We prefer a quiet rural setting....not big on cities....we had enough of that. But Seattle is there if we something there. So far we have found all we need here. Our children and grandchildren are spread across the USA but we made the decision to come here because it was what we wanted for our retirement (at least the first step). We travel to visit family frequently.  I'm actually flying off to the East Coast for two week next month. I fly out of Bellingham International Airport sometime....or take a shuttle to Seatac airport. This trip DH will stay home with our furry and feather children. With a 5th Wheel (which is ordered and due to arrive mid July) we'll be cruising the states and visiting children and grandchildren and other family members here and there across the country. This time of year (April-Jun) will probably be when we spend the most time here. We've had a few warmer days recently...which we don't mind...but now its cooled down.  I think we missed Spring totally.

I loved looking through all your beautiful photos. When DH and I go we will take as many out of the way routes as possible and we will be boondocking as well. We will be on a fixed budget and will have to learn to handle our monthly income carefully!!

Bye for now....Happy Travels to you both!



pierreandcolleen wrote:

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I see you live not too far from where we're staying (Sequim, WA).  We are visiting Washington for the first time and we absolutely love it and we've fallen in love with Sequim.  It appears to have everything that we are looking for in a community (biking and hiking trails, sailing, beautiful mountains, a sense of community, somewhat close to a large city).  The only problems are that it is far away from family and friends and unless I can telecommute, Seattle is too far away for a daily commute.  I was just wondering how you like living here (good and bad). 

-Colleen

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